


Nights Made for Miracles

by static_abyss



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, Getting Back Together, Kissing, M/M, Makeup, Not Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24584137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss
Summary: There's something about Ron's presence that makes Harry feel safe when they're waiting outside in the hallways in front of Potions, when Ron leans against the wall next to Harry, when all of his attention is concentrated on what Harry's saying. It's as though Ron commands all of Harry's focus. He makes Harry feel comforted, makes it so that Harry wants to do anything to make Ron laugh, makes it so that all Harry can think about sometimes is Ron's mouth.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley
Comments: 30
Kudos: 272
Collections: Rare Pair Shorts - Summer Wishlist Event 2020





	Nights Made for Miracles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fleurting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurting/gifts).



> For the [Rare Pair Shorts](https://rarepair-shorts.livejournal.com/) at livejournal. This is a piece for [delacourtings](https://delacourtings.livejournal.com/) who had Harry/Ron as one of the pairing requests and so spoke directly to my soul. 
> 
> For anyone who is interested, information about the fest and wish-granting can be found [here.](https://rarepair-shorts.livejournal.com/680834.html#cutid1)

It all starts because Ginny makes fun of Ron for never having kissed anyone before. 

-

Ron paces the length of the Boys' Dormitory. Neville, Dean, and Seamus had popped in earlier, taken one look at Ron, and had made themselves scarce. Harry can't tell if he's grateful for their absence or not. On the one hand, it's best that they're not around for the inevitable embarrassing conversation. On the other, if they were there, Harry wouldn't be opening his mouth to say what he's saying now.

The thing is there's something about Ron's presence that makes Harry feel safe when they're waiting outside in the hallways in front of Potions, when Ron leans against the wall next to Harry, when all of his attention is concentrated on what Harry's saying. It's as though Ron commands all of Harry's focus. He makes Harry feel comforted, makes it so that Harry wants to do anything to make Ron laugh, makes it so that all Harry can think about sometimes is Ron's mouth.

"We could snog," Harry says, his voice much more casual than he feels.

Ron stops pacing and turns a wide-eyed stare on Harry. The words hang between them, heavy in the silence of the empty dormitory. Their side of the room is the only place with lights and Harry can feel the heat from the lamps as though he's in a spotlight.

"We could snog?" Ron asks, voice high-pitched.

Harry shrugs, forces himself to look disinterested. "Yeah," he says. "I snogged Cho. I have practice. Besides, we're mates and what are mates for…"

"...if not for snogging?" Ron asks, amused.

Harry can't help his grin and just like that the tension is gone. Ron shakes his head but he's laughing. Harry takes the chance to look him over, to drink in the slope of Ron's shoulders, how tall he's gotten. He's filled out with Quidditch practice, the muscles of his arms more noticeable. It's no wonder Lavender can't keep her eyes off him.

"Hang on," Ron says once he's stopped laughing. "You're not serious are you?"

"Dunno," Harry says, shrugging. "How serious are you?"

They're quiet again as Ron looks Harry over, that intense focus, the same as when he'd tried out for the Quidditch team. It makes Harry feel important, wanted.

"All right, then," Ron says. "Let's do this."

-

Ron's mouth is warm against Harry's, clumsy kisses exchanged behind the cover of the red bed-hangings. Ron's fingers are shaking against Harry's face, his knee digging into Harry's thigh. Harry leans back and Ron follows and it's so much easier when they're lying down, when Harry can get his own hands in Ron's hair. They're not great at kissing, overeager and with little finesse to show for it. But Ron's warm and who else can Ron trust to show him these things if not his best friend.

"So that's it, I think," Ron says when he pulls away. "Nothing to it."

Harry sits up, runs his fingers through his hair and tries to calm his beating heart. Ron's grinning at him, pleased at the way Harry can't seem to string words together.

"Oh," Harry says, finally. "Right, that's snogging then."

Ron laughs, loud and like he can't help himself. He throws a quick look to his left where Neville sleeps, but the bed-hangings are in the way.

"I should go," Ron says.

"Yeah," Harry nods. "Right."

Ron grins again, his face flushed as he peeks out at the dark dormitory. Harry watches the shift of Ron's maroon pyjamas, the easy way he unfolds himself from Harry's bed. He's handsome, tall, red-haired, freckles everywhere. Harry's noticed. Of course, he's noticed.

"Night, mate," Ron says before he's swallowed up by the darkness.

-

It's better than Harry expected to have Ron's hands in his hair, to break away laughing when Ron's nose pushes Harry's glasses hard against the top of cheekbones. They kiss more than once, more than just that first time when Ron leans in too hard and Harry bangs his head against the bedpost. They figure out how to kiss without their noses getting in the way. Together, they work out where Ron's hands go, how he can pull Harry in so that Harry's not leaning so far back his neck hurts.

They find out that it's better when they're lying down on Harry's bed, when the moonlight seeps through the creases in the bed-hangings and they remember to cast a Silencing Charm. Quick kisses in between classes that get out of hand sometimes, that make them late to Charms twice. Longer, slower ones during Christmas break when Ron and Harry end up sharing a room at The Burrow. Among the orange Chudley Cannons bedsheets, Ron and Harry kiss until their lips go numb. Until Harry stops pretending that they're still just practising, until he gets carried away the day before they're meant to head back up to Hogwarts. 

They're supposed to be sleeping so there's an excuse if Ron wants one. It's night and the feeling of Ron's arms around Harry, his warm breath on the back of Harry's neck, has always inspired safety. It's that Harry knows intimately the sounds Ron makes when Harry kisses his neck, when they're alone and there's no one to bother them. It's that Ron has always been the most important thing to Harry, even before the Triwizard Tournament.

"I love you," Harry whispers.

He waits, wants to pretend that Ron's really asleep, that he hasn't heard what Harry's said. It's enormous, being in love. The ache in his chest, the absolute certainty that this is it for him, that he doesn't want anyone else threatens to swallow Harry whole. He's had so few things in his life, nothing at all like a home before he met Ron, and the idea that he's perhaps ruined this terrifies him.

But he's taken a leap and all he can do is hope he hasn't made a mistake.

-

Lavender and Ron look beautiful together. They're both tall, complimentary figures in matching sweaters, with mouths that were made for smiles. Lavender's laughter is happy and engaging and whenever she's with Ron, it's as though they light up the room. 

So Harry backs off, lets Ron and Lavender figure themselves out. He takes to spending more time with Hermione, both of them tucked into a corner of the library, neither of them saying much. Harry gets more work done after Christmas than he's ever gotten done before. With Ron busy, it's easier for Harry to get sucked into figuring out what Malfoy's doing, what Snape's doing, where Dumbledore's going. 

He throws himself into his lessons with Dumbledore, recounts what's happened to Ron and Hermione. Always leaves first so that by the time Ron makes it upstairs, Harry can pretend he's half-asleep. 

It doesn't matter, doesn't have to mean anything, because Harry will always want Ron in his life more than he'll want Ron to love him the same way. 

-

Dumbledore dies.

Dumbledore dies and Harry knows those are Ron's arms around him. He'd never confuse the feeling of Ron's mouth against the side of his face, or the way Ron knows exactly how to hold Harry so that it feels as though he's protecting him from the rest of the world. 

They bury Dumbledore and then they're running from Death Eaters at Bill and Fleur's wedding. There's hiding out at Grimmauld Place and a moment where Harry almost asks Ron to share a room with him. But Hermione needs them too, so they sleep in the sitting room, the three of them huddled together even behind the wards of Grimmauld Place.

There's no time for Harry and Ron to talk, no time to dwell on the lingering looks and the way Harry's caught Ron looking at his mouth, how they both pretend that neither of them is looking at the other. They go through camping grounds like they're never going to stop and Ron sleeps in the bunk bed above Hermione's. Harry gets it, understands that between the two of them, Hermione's the one they have to protect because they need her. There's no way they can do this without her. 

But the nights get colder and Harry stays awake longer thinking of the prophecy, of the Horcruxes, of "neither can live while the other survives." 

He's keeping watch one night, the moon tucked away behind grey clouds. It's going to start snowing soon and the cold winter air settles around him like a band. He thinks of their sixth year, thinks about how he's lost count of the number of times Ron's kissed him. How despite how many other people he'd snogged that year, none of them had mattered the way Ron did. 

"It's cold out," Ron says, now. "You should go back inside. I'll keep watch."

Harry pulls his knees closer to his chest and waits as Ron settles down next to him. They've been alone many times since Ron broke up with Lavender, since the night Harry had told Ron he loved him. They're best friends and things like that aren't enough to break what they have. 

"I'm fine," Harry says.

It's that Harry's been thinking of them and Ron's not wearing the necklace. It's that Harry can feel Ron's presence beside him like the warm embrace of a roaring fireplace. It's that Ron's always meant home and warmth, and when he turns, Ron's already there, already meeting him halfway.

-

Harry comes to, coughing up freezing lake water, his hair plastered to his forehead, and a blanket around him. He remembers the silvery-blue doe, the Sword of Gryffindor, the darkness that had consumed him. He remembers a shock of red hair, strong arms, and he thinks he must have imagined it. But he stands, shivering in the winter air and Ron's standing a few steps away, the locket bleeding out dark smoke, the Sword of Gryffindor on the floor next to him.

Harry remembers the night Ron kissed him, how easy it had been to fall back into old habits. They'd both known exactly what to do, how to fit despite the time that had passed. They'd stolen kisses when they'd gone to find food, when Hermione had napped, hurried make-outs against the trunks of the large forest trees. 

It had been so easy to forget that Ron had run the last time, that they were still young, that feelings could be overwhelming. But then Ron had taken to wearing the necklace for longer than he should have and the next thing Harry knew, Ron was gone.

-

"I'm here," Ron says, looking at Harry, then away. 

"Are you?" Harry asks, harsher than he'd intended. 

Ron swallows and Harry can see how this will play out, all the messy roads to the inevitable end. Because it doesn't matter how many times Ron leaves or how many times either of them makes a mistake, this is it. Whatever can exist between them, in whatever way that ends up being, that's what Harry wants.

"I'm not going anywhere," Ron says, and he must see something on Harry's face because he starts forward. 

Harry waits and the cold doesn't matter when Ron's hands land on either side of his face. 

"I'm not going anywhere," Ron says again. 

Then he's kissing Harry and it could be like any of the other hundreds of times they've done this before. It's just as easy this time, just as right. Everything settling into place in a way that it hasn't since Harry woke up at The Burrow and Ron was gone. Things aren't perfect, but Ron's warm and this night is made for miracles.

"I love you," Ron says, and if there's one thing Harry's always known, it's that.


End file.
